B

Cuff Me

Cuff Me by Lauren Layne is a friends to lovers romance with a tiny bit of suspense and (as promised by the title) some handcuff/bondage sex.

Vincent Moretti and Jill Henley are detectives and partners in the NYPD. Vince is taciturn and solemn, almost totally humorless, while Jill is more bubbly and friendly. They work well together, and over the years have secretly fallen in love with each other.

Jill thinks Vince doesn’t return her feelings at all and so she meets a nice guy and gets engaged all while convincing herself she’s in love with said nice-guy. Vince promptly has a litter of kittens because now he’ll never have her and she’ll be moving with her fiancé so he’ll never see her either.

The conflict in the book is genuine even if we never get a solid reason for Vince being a guy who doesn’t know how to Feels. Also he comes from a huge family and so there’s a lot family/friendship/giant get together scenes that I liked. Characters from the Moretti clan previously featured in the New York’s Finest series make cameos. What can I say, I heart a hero with a Nonna.

There’s also a murder mystery but it’s more Castle than Criminal Minds. It functions as a nice subplot though.

Overall Layne delivers some great friends to lovers yearning, but I would have liked a teensy bit more development on Vince’s side.

– Elyse

Meet New York’s Finest-three hot brothers sworn to protect and serve the city they love . . . and the women who’ve stolen their hearts.
ARRESTED BY LOVE
Vincent Moretti is one of the NYPD’s top homicide detectives-and one of the most eligible bachelors in town. His family, however, thinks he should date his longtime partner, Jill-a sassy, sexy, smart-mouthed blonde who drives him absolutely crazy.
Behind the quiet authority, tough-guy demeanor, and dark aviator glasses lies a man with a big soul-and a hard body that can soften any girl’s heart. After years as his coworker, Jill Henley has given up hope that anything could happen between her and Vin. Besides, loving him would break all the rules. But seeing Jill with someone else triggers feelings in Vincent he never knew he had. Now he’ll have to stop playing good cop/bad cop-and find a way to convince her to be his partner for life. . .